Describe pressure groups as an influence of Parliamentary law making.

Pressure groups are a body of people with a shared interest in getting Parliament to change an area of law to benefit a cause or section of society. They do this by lobbying MPs, creating petitions and working with the media to gain as much publicity as possible. There are two types of pressure group: sectional and promotional. The success of a pressure groups tend to depend on governmental links. The larger the group, the wealthier it tends to be and the more likely it is to have access to MPs as they will represent a larger sections of society. This is why sectional groups tend to be more influential. Promotional groups are groups which promote a certain cause. Successful, large groups like Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth have been successful in getting Parliament to consider the environment when making law as they are well-organised and have huge publicity. However, success of the groups don’t necessarily depend on size, as the late Mary Whitehouse alone, protested against child pornography and which led to Parliament creating the Protection of Children Act 1984. These groups may also only last temporarily until they have gotten what they wanted. The NO2ID campaign fought against the Identity Cards Act 2006 and disbanded once it was appealed by the Identity Documents Act 2010. Sectional groups promote the interests of sections of society. Their success can depend on the Government. Trade Unions tend to be more successful under a Labour Government as they provide 90% of their income, whereas business groups like NFU and CBI are more influential under Conservative Governments. Professional groups tend to be the most influential as often they are made up of wealthy, well-educated and well-articulate individuals. They are consulted by Parliament before an Act is brought in that could affect them. The Law Society has its own parliamentary unit which lobbies MPs and the British Medical Association successfully campaigned against smoking in public and contributed to the ban in July 2007 under the Health Act 2006.